The advertising industry has spent decades insisting that its awards celebrate real work for real clients. Now it will have to prove it.
In July, shortly after last year's festival wrapped up on the Croisette, Cannes Lions announced what it is calling "Global Integrity Standards" — a new regime of accountability measures for the world's most prestigious advertising awards. The rules add both human reviewers and artificial intelligence to the fact-checking process, require stricter sign-offs from clients, and threaten bans of up to three years for agencies that submit work that turns out to be, as the industry sometimes delicately puts it, not entirely real.
The response from agencies has been what you might expect: public support for the principle, private grumbling about the logistics. Several agency executives, speaking on condition of anonymity because they did not wish to be seen complaining about accountability, described the new requirements as "burdensome." Others used the word "necessary," sometimes in the same sentence.
The tension is not new. Cannes Lions, which is owned by Ascential and has grown into a weeklong gathering that combines awards, conferences, yacht parties, and rosé consumption in roughly equal measure, has long grappled with the question of what exactly it is rewarding. Over the years, the festival has been periodically embarrassed by entries that existed primarily — or exclusively — for the purpose of winning awards. (The industry term for such work is "scam," which is at least refreshingly direct.)
The new standards represent an attempt to close the gap between what agencies enter and what actually ran. Whether three years of potential banishment will prove sufficient deterrent remains to be seen.
For now, the Croisette awaits, as it always does.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Agencies Say New Cannes Lions Entry Rules Are 'Burdensome,' But Necessary"